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Nightwish
Nightwish is a symphonic power metal band that originated in Kitee, Finland in 1996. Nightwish consists of 6 main members. In May 2007, former Alyson Avenue frontwoman Anette Olzon was revealed as Tarja Turunen’s replacement. In the autumn, the band released a new album, Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies, with their big single, "Amaranth", being released one month before. In October 2012, during the Imaginaerum World Tour, Olzon was dismissed as the lead vocalist and was replaced by former After Forever frontwoman Floor Jansen. Current members Floor Jansen Active: 2013-present (touring member: 2012-13) Instruments: Lead vocals Albums with the band: All Nightwish releases since Endless Forms Most Beautiful Background: Floor (born February 21, 1981) is a Dutch vocalist and songwriter. At the age of 15, she joined the Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever, which was disbanded in 2009. Jansen formed the progressive metal band ReVamp the same year, which was disbanded in 2016, after she had joined Nightwish. Jansen filled in for Anette Olzon for the remainder of the Imaginaerum World Tour after Olzon's dismissal, and subsequently joined the band when the tour concluded. Tuomas Holopainen Active: 1996–present Instruments: Keyboards, piano and male vocals Albums with the band: All Nightwish releases since the first 1996 demo Background: Tuomas (born December 25, 1976) is a Finnish composer, musician, poet and producer. Known best for heavy metal music, he has also studied jazz and classical styles, but he didn't appreciate these styles, explaining to be influenced by harmonic film music. Holopainen has written several songs that have been included in movie soundtracks, including recent collaboration with Nightwish bass player and male vocalist Marco Hietala on While Your Lips Are Still Red, for the Finnish film “''Lieksa!” in 2007. In 2017, Holopainen, alongside Johanna Kurklea and fellow Nightwish member Troy Donockley, formed a progressive folk band called Auri, which released it's first album the following year. Emppu Vuorinen '''Active:' 1996–present Instruments: Lead guitar, bass guitar (1997–1998) and classic guitar Albums with the band: All Nightwish releases since the first 1996 demo Background: Erno or Emppu (born June 24, 1978) is a Finnish guitarist. He started to play guitar as a private study at the age of 12 and since then he has played in various bands including Nightwish, of which he is a founding member, Brother Firetribe, Almah (with Angra's frontman Edu Falaschi) and Altaria. As of 2008 one of his side-projects Brother Firetribe released their two albums, "False Metal" (Re-released as "Break Out"), and "Heart Full Of Fire" worldwide. Marco Hietala Active: 2002–present Instruments: Bass guitar, classic guitar, male vocals Albums with the band: All Nightwish releases since ''Century Child'' Background: Marco (born January 14, 1966) is a Finnish vocalist and bassist. He is often seen as an icon for the Finnish metal scene. He is also the vocalist and bassist as well as composer/lyricist for heavy metal band Tarot. He joined Nightwish following the departure of previous bassist Sami Vänskä. He was a prominent guest musician in Delain, a project involving many members of the gothic/symphonic metal community. Marco is the bassist and lends his voice to a number of songs. He also participated in the recording of Invitation, by Altaria, providing backing vocals. Hietala has also been part of the bands Sinergy and Northern Kings. In Delain, Hietala played the bass for the album Lucidity and was also the main male vocalist on the album. He is also featured as vocalist in two of the songs on Delain's new album April Rain. In March 2009, Marco joined the band Sapattivuosi, they cover Black Sabbath songs in Finnish. Troy Donockley Active: 2013-present (session member: 2007-13) Instruments: Uilleann pipes, tin whistle, low whistle, guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, vocals Albums with the Band: All Nightwish releases since Dark Passion Play Background: Troy (born May 30, 1964) is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist. He joined a band called Travelling Country at the age of 16, and soon developed a fondness of traditional Celtic music. His first appearance in a Nightwish song was Dark Passion Play's The Islander and appeared in it's accompanying music video. He was again a session member for Imaginaerum, and was made a permanent member soon after the Imaginaerum World Tour. Kai Hahto Active: 2019-present (touring member: 2014-19) Instruments: Drums, percussion Albums with the band: All Nightwish releases since Endless Forms Most Beautiful Background: 'Kai (born December 31, 1973) is a Finnish drummer and percussionist. Originally the dummer for grindcore band Rotten Sound, he soon joined Finnish heavy metal band Wintersun. He filled in for Jukka Nevalainen, who’d taken a break because of insomnia, starting in 2014 for ''Endless Forms Most Beautiful and the two subsequent tours. In July 2019, he ultimately became Nevalainen’s replacement after the latter decided to not come back to the band. Former Members Anette Olzon '''Active: 2007-2012 Instruments: '''Lead/female vocals '''Albums with the Band: Dark Passion Play ''and Imaginaerum'' Background: Anette (born June 21, 1971) is a Swedish soprano who replaced Tarja Turunen after her dismissal on October 21, 2005. Olzon was formerly the vocalist in the Swedish melodic rock band Alyson Avenue. After her admission in Nightwish, Anette played with several bands, in studio and live, including Brother Firetribe and Pain, and will release a new album in the near future, under her own name. She was dismissed during the Imaginaerum World Tour in 2012, and was replaced by Floor Jansen. Tarja Turunen Active: 1996–2005 Instruments: Lead/female vocals Albums with the band: ''Angels Fall First'' until ''Once'' Background: '''Tarja (Finnish pronunciation: ˈturunen) (born 17 August 1977) is a Finnish singer-songwriter, composer and actress, whose work includes two solo albums, with the third coming in 2010. She was dismissed from the band on 22 October 2005 after nine years, in the end of the Once Upon a Tour. In 2006, Tarja released a Christmas album, Henkäys Ikuisuudesta, with a support classical tour between November 25 and December 26. In 2007, Tarja released My Winter Storm, an album with various styles, including alternative rock and symphonic metal, that sold over 500.000 copies worldwide. The support tour, Storm World Tour, started on November 25, 2007, and ended at London on October 19, 2009, selling out. Sami Vänskä '''Active: 1998–2001 Instruments: '''Bass guitar '''Albums with the band: ''Oceanborn'' until ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' Background: 'Sami (born 26 September 1976) started playing bass as a private study. He has played in a few bands which have been mostly from the metal genre. He started his career in the band Nattvindens Gråt, with Tuomas Holopainen. He made 2 albums, A Bard's Tale (1995), Chaos Without Theory (1997) and a demo, Dar Svanar Flyger (1995), with them. He joined Nightwish for the second studio album, ''Oceanborn. He left the band in 2001, and was replaced by Marco Hietala. Jukka Nevalainen '''Active: 1997–2019 (on hiatus: 2014-19) Instruments: Drums, percussion Albums with the band: ''Angels Fall First'''' until ''Imaginaerum 'Background: '''Jukka (born April 21, 1978) is a Finnish drummer. He spent his early years in the city of Kitee; his drumming career started at the age of eleven when his music teacher at school told him that a new educational program for music was opening, and he thought Jukka would fit in well as a drummer. His first band was "The Highway" but he joined his first real band at the age of 15–16. The band had a rehearsal place, but was restricted to practice only a couple of days a week. After he left that band, he joined up with Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen and they got a permanent practice place. He had been on hiatus since 2014 because of persistent insomnia, and Wintersun drummer Kai Hahto filled in for him on ''Endless Forms Most Beautiful and the two subsequent world tours. In July 2019, it was announced via Facebook that he would not be returning to Nightwish and that Hahto was to replace him. However, he will still work with the band behind the scenes. Guests *Samppa Hirvonen *Marianna Pellinen *Tapio Wilska *Sam Hardwick *Ike Vil *Tony Kakko *John Two-Hawks *London Session Orchestra *Johanna Salomaa *Pekka Kuusisto